Of those people, 20 million are refugees. The UN is planning a series of meeting to address migration in 2016, including a March 30 gathering in Geneva where countries will be invited to pledge resettlement spots for Syrians fleeing civil war. But while the Syrian refugee crisis has gripped the world's attention, it is but a drop in the sea of international migration.

Here are some highlights from the UN report on international migration:

WHERE ARE MIGRANTS GOING?

The vast majority go to Europe, home to 76 million international migrants in 2015, or two-thirds of the total. By individual country, however, the United States had by far the largest portion of the world's migrants -- 47 million, or a fifth of the total. Germany and Russia shared the No. 2 spot with about 12 million each, followed by Saudi Arabia (10 million), Britain (9 million) and the United Arab Emirates (8 million.)

WHERE ARE MIGRANTS COMING FROM?

The largest portion comes from Asia: about 104 million or 43 per cent. While Europe takes in the biggest number of migrants, it also contributes a large number: 62 million, or 25 per cent of the total. Latin America and the Caribbean was the third-largest regional source of international migration, with 37 million, or 15 per cent. Only 2 per cent (4 million) are from North America.

India had the world's biggest diaspora, with 16 million people, followed by Mexico (12 million), Russia (11 million), China (10 million) and Bangladesh (7 million) and Pakistan and Ukraine (6 million each).

WHO ARE THE MIGRANTS?

They are almost equally divided by gender: 48 per cent are women. Not surprisingly, most are working-age. The median age of migrants in 2015 was 39. A significant portion -- 15 per cent -- were under 20 years old. But country populations will not get any younger as a result. The United Nations said international migrants can help ease old-age dependency ratios in some countries but will not halt the long-term trend toward population aging. All major areas of the world are still projected to have significantly higher old-age dependency ratios in 2050.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE WORLD POPULATION?

The vast majority of the world's people stay put. Migrants made up just 3.3 per cent of the global population in 2015, up from 2.8 per cent 15 years ago. Still, international migration is growing faster than the world's population, with significant consequences for many regions.

Migrants make up 10 per cent of the populations of Europe, North America and Oceania. In North America and Oceania, migrants have contributed to 42 per cent of population growth since 2000. It was a different story in Europe, where the population would have declined over the same period had it not been for the influx of migrants. Even if current migration levels continue, Europe's population is still projected to decline over the next 35 years because of its surplus of deaths over births.

Advertisements

Latest Canada & World News

MONTREAL -- The Bay store in downtown Montreal was fined $765,000 for illegally releasing pollutants into the St. Lawrence River, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada said Friday. But Nathalie Houle of the federal government's public prosecution office was unable to confirm a Montreal La Presse report the fine was imposed after roughly 146 kilograms of PCBs from old transformers on the building's roof leaked into a drain and into the river.
Source

WASHINGTON -- Corporate registrations in Delaware show that President-elect Donald Trump shut down some of his companies in the days after the election, including four companies that appeared connected to a possible Saudi Arabia business venture.
Source

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A refrigerator was ruled out as the cause of a fire at a warehouse in Oakland that killed 36 people, but investigators were still looking at electrical systems as possible ignition sources, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Friday.
Source

Police in Florida say a man shot his ex-wife four times during an argument at an Orlando karaoke bar early Friday morning.
Tu Quoc Ho, 43, was arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder with a firearm, aggravated battery with a firearm, tampering with evidence and domestic violence battery, Orlando News 6 reports.
Source

Appearing jovial and relaxed, Donald Trump plunged back into election politics Friday, a full month after he won the presidency, enthusiastically prodding Louisiana Republicans to turn out for Saturday's Senate runoff election and protect the party's 52-48 margin in Washington.
Source

A young deer was rescued from almost certain death near Woodstock on Thursday after getting herself into a slippery situation on the partially frozen St. John River.
The yearling doe had been doing her own version of a Bambi-on-ice routine for about two days and must have been close to exhaustion by the time Kenny Tomah spotted her in the middle of the river.
Source

CALGARY -- Watchdog group Zoocheck Canada is calling for surveillance cameras in all animal enclosures following the puzzling drowning deaths of several penguins at the Calgary Zoo. Zoo officials have said a colony of 22 Humboldt penguins was fine when a zookeeper left Wednesday afternoon.
Source

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - Niagara regional police say a child is safe and apparently in good health after the car he was in was stolen in St. Catharines, Ont. Police say a father reported he'd left the car parked and unattended with the two-year-old inside on Friday afternoon and it was gone when he returned.
Source

In the days after Saya Tomioka lost her boyfriend in the Oakland fire, a horrific blaze that killed 36 people at a warehouse party last week, she wrote a Facebook plea for help. She longed to see a photograph of her and her late boyfriend, Griffin Maddens, sharing a kiss in Times Square in the summer of 2015 – but she never got the name of the photographer who captured the fleeting embrace.
Source

A balding Florida man has been sentenced to two years in prison for stealing hair growth formula in a series of thefts in Ohio.
Andres Arias, 36, was arrested in October in Ohio on a charge of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, according to the Palm Beach Post.
Source